Gandhi Ashram Trust, Bangladesh.

 

Mahatma Karamchand Gandhi, the father of India, was the pioneer of the liberation movement of India from the British Empire. He visited Noakhali in 1946 and the place he lived is now turned into a memorial complex situated 25 kilometers away from the Noakhali District.

The very brief history of India: In 1946, just before the liberation of Pakistan from India, there were some social anarchy began in the undivided India. At that time, he decided to visit different places where the massacre started. According to his plan, he visited Noakhali and gave a peace speech. Gandhi was interested to set up a technical training institute at "Joyag" area for the rural uneducated people because he believed that only education can change the mind of a man and keep themselves away from being involved in crimes like killing/looting etc. At that time, a local lawyer, named Hemanta Kumar invited him to stay at his home. Hemanta was believed as the first barrister in this region on that time. He donated his land and building to Gandhiji and Gandhiji was pleased to him too. Gandhi used to drink only goat milk and he always carried a goat with his team. One night, the goat of Gandhi was stolen from the complex. After that he returned to Bihar (India) but willing to come again to continue the activities of the vocational training center. After that, Pakistan got independence from India. In 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by fire and never managed to came back to Noakhali before his death. That was his only visit. In 1971, the east part of Pakistan declared themselves independent and named Bangladesh. Noakhali belongs to Bangladesh now. The Institute is now running autonomously in collaboration with the Bangladesh government.

Current Condition of Gandhi Ashram Trust: After his death, the Pakistani government tried to destroy his memories and work. The Pakistanis always hated Gandhi and all the Hindu people. During the period of 1947-1971, Pakistani people and their supporters forced Hindus to settle in India and destroyed their properties. After 1971, the Independent country Bangladesh began to preserve his history. The Vocational instituted was then named "Gandhi Ashram Trust" and started to serve local rural people. But now after 2000, the training activities started to decline. People are much more interested to move towards to a city now. Now the building is converted into a museum where lots of photos of Gandhi's earlier life is found.

The Ashram Trust is located in Joyag, Sonaimuri, Noakhali district. It is actually situated at Noakhali - Ramganj (Laksmipur) highway. There are some other branches of Gandhi Ashram are established to achieve the mission of Mahatma Gandhi in many different districts of Bangladesh. But actually the historical place where Gandhi resided in Bangladesh is in Noakhali.